At Last
by divinerosekeeper
Summary: She went on an online dating service, her match? Her childhood enemy who she hasn’t seen in years. SoraxKairi AU
1. Harmonia Matching Services

_At Last_

by divinerosekeeper

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own any of the characters that are from either Kingdom Hearts or any of the Final Fantasy games, as they are owned by Square Enix (and in Kingdom Heart's case also by Buena Vista). I do own any original characters in this story.

**Important Note: **As you can obviously see,I have decided to completely revamp this fanfic. I'm sorry that I haven't bothered to even try to update this in nearly six years. I'm not going to even try to give you guys shit excuses, because really, why lie? Haha. Anyway, I am this time planning to force myself to update this bitch as often as I can, no really, I promise. I also promise that this time around this will be even ten times more awesome than the original! You will notice lots of drastic changes to this story, like the fact that this isn't a Sora and Kairi pairing anymore, as I've changed it to a ROXAS AND AXEL fanfic! No, I'm really kidding… This is still a Sora and Kairi story, I swear. Anyway, I really hope that you will all enjoy this new and improved version of _At Last_. As a special treat I'm debuting the revamp with a special double feature!

SIDE NOTE BEFORE READING

This no longer is set place in Tokyo, as it's set in the city of Radiant Garden. The Radiant Garden in my story is being depicted as a bustling city, which is known for its beautiful flowers and gardens. But essentially how I imagine it all is splicing Radiant Garden and the city that was shown in the World That Never Was together with having the vibe of New York City, could you imagine that? This still takes place in Japan; by the way, though Radiant Garden is not the capitol, it is a big city just like Kyoto and Osaka. Other places that will be mentioned in my story are Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, and Twilight Town (another big city); these are technically sort of suburbs in the area. Anyway, yea, glad to get that all cleared up.

_C_hapter One

_Harmonia Matching Services_

* * *

_August 22nd_

Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap…

"_Ugh_."

Eyebrows furrowed and lips in a tight line, Kairi Hikari dug her hands into her hair, stopping her previous action of typing. She sighed again, glancing at the time on her computer screen, seven thirty-six. Taking off her glasses, she pinched the area in-between her eyes.

_Maybe I should call it a day_,she thought tiredly.

Kairi looked again to the computer screen, eyeing her document. Although not satisfied with the piece itself, she felt she had made just enough progress for the day; thus saving and closing it. She quickly packed her belongings—her glasses into their case, cell phone, and other miscellaneous items and turned off her computer and lamp, then finally retrieved her umbrella.

Putting on her coat, Kairi grabbed her bag and left her cubicle. She gave curt, but polite goodbyes to the few people that were still in the office, refusing to be distracted on her way to the elevator. All she knew was that she wanted to get home, eat a decent meal with a hot cup of tea, possibly take a bath, and then crash in her bed. A smile played upon her lips at the thought.

The elevator ride down to ten floors below was quiet and long. Kairi was impatient; she just wanted to get out of the building. The elevator progressed slowly down the floors; seven…six…five…four… Her foot tapped eagerly; everyday she swore she was becoming more and more convinced that this was the slowest elevator in the entire world.

_Mental note: write a complaint about this damn thing tomorrow_,she thought bitterly.

When the elevator made the shaky stop on the bottom floor and the doors opened, Kairi practically ran out of it, muttering, "Finally!" to herself.

She only regained her composure when the receptionist at the front desk cheerfully told her to have a good evening, to which she replied with a "you too."

As soon as she made her way out of the revolving doors of the building, Kairi was met with the downpour of heavy rain. "Shit," she muttered as she clumsily fumbled to open her umbrella. She walked towards the street searching for an upcoming taxi.

Looking around, it almost surprised her at how busy Radiant Garden could still be on a rainy Monday night. Nothing stopped people in the city from having a good time; growing up in a sleeper town like Destiny Islands she was accustomed to living in a less lively environment.

Spotting a taxi, Kairi whistled as loud as she could, waved her hand out and called out to it. When it pulled over, she crawled in and shut the door, "Fifth and Peony, please."

When Kairi entered her apartment she could have cried out with joy, so relieved to be finally home. She placed her sopped umbrella into its holder, kicked off her shoes, and slipped off her coat, putting it on one of the hooks.

She walked out of the small hallway, only able to put her purse on the sofa before she noticed something very unusual. Her roommate, Selphie Tilmitt, was on _her _personal laptop.

"What are you doing?" Kairi demanded.

As soon as Selphie heard her roommate's voice she froze for a moment, then quickly snapped the laptop closed, "Ah, n-nothing—!" Kairi towered over her with an annoyed look oh her face, Selphie smiled nervously, "I didn't expect you to come home so early."

One of Kairi's eyebrows rose, "I'm sure you didn't."

Trying to change the subject in hopes of distracting her, Selphie asked, "I thought you were staying at the office super-late today?"

"I was. But then I decided to go home because I was really tired and had gotten a lot done today." To Selphie's disappointment, Kairi's scowl didn't disappear. "Nice try, but you're not going to distract me from the fact that you have on your lap. So once again, why are you on my laptop?"

Selphie just couldn't tell her the truth, Kairi would _kill_ her, and not just simply kill her, it'd be creative and long and not to mention torturous. So, she had no other choice, she said the first excuse that came to her head, "My laptop is broken, and I really needed to check my email!"

She bit her lip, _Please for the love of God, let her believe me!_

"You know, I totally would have bought that, if it weren't for the fact that…" Kairi paused looking over at the coffee table, "your laptop is open and fully functioning, and it's on your email account no less."

The brunette mentally slapped herself, "Crap."

"Crap is right," Kairi said nodding, "now the truth."

Sheepishly smiling, Selphie replied, "Do I really have to?"

Kairi sighed, "Well, it's either that or you just hand the damn thing to me, it's your choice. I'm going to find out either way."

Selphie surrendered the laptop to the redhead; Kairi then swiftly snatched it out of her hands, "Was that so hard?"

As Kairi sat down with her laptop on the sofa, Selphie could feel her palms start to clam up with sweat; nothing could prepare her for the anger that Kairi was about to unknowingly unleash.

When Kairi opened that laptop and looked at what was on the screen her face quickly drained of all blood, and just as quickly it was filled with red rage. Eerily, she whispered, "What the hell is this?"

"…"

Her voice rose just a little more in volume, "I can't hear you."

"…"

"Selphie why the hell are you registering under _my _name on 'Harmonia Matching Services?'"

"Well, I couldn't exactly register you on _my _computer now could I? All of your personal info is on your laptop," Selphie retorted.

Kairi took a deep breath, trying to calm down, so she could resist the urge to kill her best friend, "Okay, but why are you even registering me in the first place?"

"Kairi," she said slowly, "We've been friends for many, many years…"

"Cut the shit, and get to the point."

Selphie glared, "Since you said it so nicely. Anyway, Kairi, you don't date much, I feel bad, so that's why I am trying to get you a date."

Kairi placed the laptop on the coffee table, she shakily said, "I don't need to date."

"I know you don't _need _to date, but I think it would be good for you. You're always so tense these days; everything is about work with you. Kairi, you don't have any fun anymore."

Kairi looked away, "I have a job, so therefore, the only thing I have time for is work."

Selphie rolled her eyes, "Kairi, technically you get off at five, but you stay until eight everyday when it's not even asked of you. Let's face it, you're a workaholic."

"Am not," she muttered stubbornly.

"Are too."

"Are n—"

Selphie cut her off, "Whatever! The point is you're young and need to get out more often!"

"I do too go out!" Kairi argued.

"Kairi! Quit arguing for once, and listen," said Selphie getting up off the chair she had been sitting in, "Yes, you occasionally go out and have a few drinks with the girls, but that's even a rarity these days. And you never go on dates. Every blind date I set up for you fails miserably, one's that you, yourself initiate don't go any much better."

"What are you expecting me to do? Get set up on some date from that site, fall in love, and then get married and become a baby-making machine?" snapped Kairi.

"Er—" this caught Selphie off guard. "That's not exactly what I meant—though, don't get me wrong, that would be great —what I meant was that you're twenty-five, I don't want you to miss out on what you could be doing, and I don't want you to regret it later."

Kairi was about to say something, but was once again cut off, "And I know and understand why you do shy away from dating, it's pretty understandable. But I think that even Ni—"

"Thank you, Selphie, but I just really don't want to, okay?" Kairi said. She picked herself off of the sofa and headed towards the kitchen.

There was nothing that Selphie could rack in her mind to say; she hated seeing her friend so lonely. No matter how hard Kairi tried, she couldn't hide this fact from her. Her eyes moved to the ring that was on her left ring finger, sometimes she would feel slightly guilty for wearing it.

She looked up at Kairi again, who was getting a plate and cup out of the cupboard, "Kairi," she said softly. The redhead paused, but didn't look at her, "I saved you some food, it's in the fridge. All you have to do is heat it up."

* * *

Sora Isamu arrived at the secluded bar just a little after eight o'clock. When he walked in he was greeted by two of his friends, Wakka and Toji. "Happy birthday, man," Wakka said slapping Sora on the back.

Sora lightly punched him on the arm, "Thanks." He took off his hoodie, the rain outside had turned into a light drizzle. "Alright, we can't be out too late, I have work tomorrow and I need to be able to function."

The two men waved him off, "Yeah, yeah…"

Sora sighed, "I'm serious."

"We know," said Toji, "C'mon let's just make the most of this, eh, birthday boy?"

The three men walked to the bar and got themselves onto the stools, the bartender went to them and each of them ordered a bottle of beer.

"So, how's it feel to be twenty-six, man?" asked Wakka taking a sip of his beer.

"Eh," said Sora taking out a cigarette out of the carton, "Same as twenty-five." He lit his cigarette with his lighter and took a drag, "There's no difference, so it's really nothing special."

Toji frowned and covered his nose, "Ah, aren't you ever going to quit that?"

Sora rolled his eyes, "What's your problem? You're in a bar, everyone is practically smoking in here."

Toji covered his nose, "Yea, but not five inches away from my face."

Sora sighed, "Fine, fine, you win," he took one last puff and smashed it into the already full ashtray in front of him.

"Anyway," Wakka said, changing the subject, "how's that little project of yours coming along?"

Sora grinned, "My baby, you mean?"

Wakka raised an eyebrow, "Yea, sure, that."

"It's going pretty good," answered Sora taking a sip from his beer. "It should be done in about half a year, maybe even a little more than that."

"Taking your time on it, I see?" Toji commented, his finger tracing the top of the bottle.

"Well, yea. I want it to be absolutely perfect. It needs to be the sturdiest thing in that damn town." Sora said thoughtfully.

"Hey Sora," he heard Wakka say, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"That chick over there is checking you out," Wakka whispered, subtly indicating towards the left.

Sora slowly looked to his left, Wakka was right, there was a girl that was looking at him. She smiled, and winked with one of her alluring amber eyes. Sure, she was pretty enough, hell, she was gorgeous, the woman was tall and slender, with a nice rack, and even in the dim light of the bar he could tell how shiny and blonde that long hair of hers was.

He looked away momentarily and gripped his beer bottle. He glanced over at her again; this time she was batting her eyes at him. "Nah," he said.

"What?" asked Wakka and Toji in perfect unison.

Sora shrugged, "Not tonight."

"What the fuck is wrong with you, man?" asked Wakka, eyes wide in shock. "You'd usually take this opportunity."

Once again, Sora just shrugged and took another sip of his beer.

"Suffering from limp dick syndrome, tonight?" asked Toji.

Sora rolled his eyes, "I guess," he replied. He just wanted them to get off of his back.

Toji's face brightened and desperately looked at Sora, grabbing his arm, "Then would you mind if I tried to get with her?!"

Both Wakka and Sora gave Toji a weird look by his sudden pathetic outburst, flicking off his arm from his friend's grasp, Sora said, "No, do what you like. Just quit being a freak, alright?"

"Thank you!" said Toji, practically flying out of his seat.

"What's his deal?" Sora asked.

"Eh, it's been about three months or so since the guy's been laid, you can't blame him too much" Wakka replied, he then looked seriously at his friend, "But the real question is, what's wrong with _you_?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Sora asked, taking another slow sip of his beer.

"What I mean, man, is why didn't you go for that girl yourself?" Wakka explained. "You'd usually be up on that."

"Eh."

"Well?" urged Wakka.

"I just—I-I guess, I guess I just want to settle down," Sora honestly answered, he averted his eyes from his friend, looking at one of the televisions instead.

"Seriously, man?" Wakka asked, taken aback. "Where's this all coming from?"

Sora smiled, looking at his friend again, "I think I am. I don't know, Wakka, I just have this feeling, it just feels like the thing to do, instinctive, almost, you know? I'm tired of all this playing around, anyway. It's so routine and boring. Being casual is no longer exciting; it's lost its charm. " He finished off the rest of his beer and looked at Wakka, "I guess there_ is_ a difference between twenty-five and twenty-six."

Before Wakka could say anything, Sora grabbed his sweater and slipped off of the stool, "Hey man, I think I'm gonna go."

Wakka gave him a quizzical look, "You sure man? It's still pretty early, and you've only had one drink. There's still plenty of time to celebrate!"

Sora nodded, slipping on his sweater, "Yea, I just want to go home, maybe some other night." He looked around to see if he could see Toji, he couldn't. He looked at Wakka again, "Tell lover-boy I said thanks, if and when you see him, 'kay?"

Wakka only nodded.

"Hey, Wakka," Sora said before he walked away.

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, man, any time, alright? Happy birthday."

Sora grinned and walked out the door. His eyes roamed from the streets up to the sky, it had stopped raining, which was nice, since he had to walk seven blocks all the way to his condo. He inhaled, taking a deep breath, he had always loved the smell after it rained, everything always seemed fresh again.

He walked to the curb and pulled out the carton of cigarettes from out of his pocket, he drew one out and lit it up and took a long and slow inhale. He knew that he should probably quit, but considering he'd been doing it since the age of sixteen, it wouldn't be that easy.

* * *

It was now 10:30, and Kairi had just finished her bath. Clad in a white camisole, striped pajama pants and a towel hung around her neck; she walked into the empty living room (Selphie having retired into her bedroom a half-an-hour earlier with the complaint of nausea again). She had come out to retrieve her laptop, wanting to check her email before going off to bed. She picked it up, surprised to feel that it was warm.

_I must've not have turned it off from earlier_, she observed.

Kairi sat down on the sofa, placing the laptop in her lap; she carefully opened the lid, revealing the bright half-filled application that Selphie had started. Curiously, Kairi browsed through it, seeing what Selphie was going to reveal about her to the World Wide Web. So far, she had her full name, age and birthday, email, profile picture (Kairi couldn't complain too much, it _was_ a good picture she chose), cell phone number, her employment, hell, even her blood type!

She scrolled down to the parts that Selphie hadn't been able to fill out yet, her eyes widened, _Shit, they get really detailed with this. _

Continuing to scroll down and read, Kairi became to hate the idea of it all a little less, _This doesn't seem _too _bad. Maybe Selphie is right; maybe I should do more things. _

With that, Kairi scrolled up to where Selphie had left off, filling out details about herself.

She had been so engrossed with the assessment she had started; she failed to notice that Selphie had come out of her bedroom. "Kairi?"

"Oh, my—" the redhead screamed, the laptop almost falling from her lap. Her eyes met with puzzled green ones, "Jesus, Selphie, you scared me."

"I'm sorry, Kairi, I didn't mean to. I was just coming out here to get myself a glass of water and some crackers."

Kairi raised a brow, "You're still having problems with nausea?"

Selphie frowned, "Unfortunately, I don't know what's wrong with me. It has to be something I've eaten."

"I don't think it's that," Kairi said shaking her head, "You've been like this for a week now, and I've been eating pretty much all the same things you have, and I haven't had any problems. Besides, you're a chef, you know the difference between good and bad food."

"I know…"

"Selphie," said Kairi seriously, "You sure you aren't…"

"Pregnant?" Selphie finished becoming suddenly somber and quiet, she looked at the redhead and bit her lip. Staring down at the floor, she continued, "I've been thinking of that, I've just been putting off buying the pregnancy test, that's all. I'm scared to find out the result, to be honest."

Kairi frowned, "Don't be ridiculous. This isn't something you can put off, you need to find out."

"I know," she sighed, "I was planning on getting one tomorrow. But for now, can we please not talk about it?"

"Suit yourself."

"So," Selphie started, mischief tugging at her lips, "what's that you're looking at?"

Kairi blushed out of embarrassment, and slowly tried to close her laptop, "Er, nothing, just checking my email, that's all."

"Liar," Selphie quickly snatched the machine out of her lap and looked at the screen, "Checking your email, my ass, Kairi."

Kairi looked away in further shame, embarrassed to have been caught.

Selphie beamed, "I knew you'd come around," she laughed at the sight of her friend, who was becoming redder and redder by the second, "aw, don't be so embarrassed, there's no shame in trying to find love."

"Okay, okay, I'm going to go through with it. But if you continue to be a complete ass about it, I might just change my mind. So if you know what's good for you, you will hand over the laptop and slink back into your room and eat your damn crackers," threatened Kairi.

Selphie nodded, carefully slipping the laptop into Kairi's outstretched arms, "There you go, have a nice night." She then picked up her crackers and water from the counter and went back into her bedroom.

Kairi sighed, looking back at the screen, "Now where was I?"

* * *

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Sora stared at the screen of his laptop. _So, this is the thing that everyone talks about, "Harmonia." _He smirked; _I guess it's worth a shot._ He then clicked on the link that his cursor had been hovering on.

_Register with us!_

* * *

**Author's Corner:**

How exciting! I'm finally writing again, and I'm able to enjoy it! I guess it's also pretty exciting that this is the first chapter of the new and improved _At Last_, so you can choose whatever you want to be the most excited for. The original story started nearly eight years ago, in December of '05, when I was in _seventh grade._ Holy sweet Jesus, how atrocious my writing was, not saying that my writing is great now, just much improved. Haha. Anyway, I really hoped you all enjoyed this! I actually for once checked for mistakes (I never usually do that!), and I will continue to try to do so.

Anyway, if you have read the original, you will notice a lot of changes in just this first chapter, and I hope you like them, I sure as hell do. Please share your thoughts with me; whether they are good or bad, both are accepted!

For every new character introduced in the chapter I will add a character profile for each!

**Name: **Kairi Hikari

**DOB: **February 18th

**Age: **25

**Hometown: **Born in Radiant Garden, grew up in Destiny Islands

**Occupation: **columnist for _CLASSIC_ magazine

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden, in an apartment with best friend Selphie Tilmitt

* * *

**Name: **Sora Isamu

**DOB: **August 22nd

**Age: **26

**Hometown: **Born in Twilight Town, grew up in Destiny Islands

**Occupation: **architect for Garaku Architecture, Contracting & Co. (also his apprentice)

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden, in a condo with dog, Ryo

* * *

**Name: **Selphie Tilmitt

**DOB: **April 1st

**Age:** 24

**Hometown: **Destiny Islands

**Occupation: **a chef at a local café

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden, in an apartment with best friend Kairi Hikari

* * *

**Name: **Wakka Aido

**DOB: **June 16th

**Age: **27

**Hometown: **Destiny Islands

**Occupation: **contractor for Garaku Architecture, Contracting & Co.

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden, in his apartment

* * *

**Name: **Toji Osaka

**DOB: **May 19th

**Age: **32

**Hometown: **Radiant Garden

**Occupation**: contractor forGaraku Architecture & Co.

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden, secretly with his mother

Thank you!

Love,

Tabitha


	2. Emiko Haruna

_At Last_

by divinerosekeeper

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own any of the characters that are from either Kingdom Hearts or any of the Final Fantasy games, as they are owned by Square Enix (and in Kingdom Heart's case also by Disney/Buena Vista). I own any original characters in this story.

_C_hapter Two

_Emiko Haruna_

* * *

_Thank you for registering with us! Your information is completely confidential, and will not be misused or redistributed elsewhere; our company values our clients' privacy. _

_You will soon get a confirmation message sent to your email account._

_After confirming your registration with us, you will receive a phone call from one of our matchmakers to set up an appointment. _

_Thank you, _

_Harmonia Matching Services_

* * *

_August 30th_

_Bzz, bzz, bzz._

The vibration from his left pocket snapped Sora back to reality from staring off into space. It was Sora's lunch break and he was currently fourth in line for the food cart across the street from his office.

Sora fished his phone from his pocket and looked to see who was calling him.

UNKNOWN CALLER

He shrugged, slid the answer bar on his touch screen and answered, "Hello?"

"Hello!" boomed an enthusiastic voice on the other line. "Is this Sora Isamu?"

"Um, yes?"

"Oh hi, Isamu-san! This is Emiko Haruna; I'm a matchmaker from Harmonia Matching Services. How are you?"

_This lady is talking a hundred miles a minute, _Sora thought. _I'm surprised to be getting a reply so soon._

He was now second in line. Sora cleared his throat, "Good, thank you. How are—"

"Fantastic!" the woman shrieked, not allowing him to finish, "I've been assigned to be your personal matchmaker and help you find your match. So, in order for us to start we do have to set up a consultation and meet up. I do have available times for an appointment next week, what are the days that can best work for you?"

Sora was now at the head of the line, the vendor glaring pointedly at his cell phone. Sora shot him a sheepish smile, cleared his throat, and quickly muttered into the phone, "Haruna-san, hold on for a sec." He hastily ordered his food and paid the gentleman, all the while still hearing faint jabberings of Emiko Haruna.

He got to a nearby bench to set his stuff down and put the phone back to his ear, "Sorry about that—"

She cut him off again. "Oh no worries! What day works best for you next week for the consultation?"

At the top of his head Sora told her next Wednesday, sometime in the late afternoon.

"Perrrrfect! Would you happen to be familiar with the restaurant called Midori?"

"Uh, yea, I think so. West side of the city, right?" Sora asked with a lazy stretch.

He could tell she flipping through some papers, "You've got it, would 6:00 work for you? I already have an appointment that evening with a lady at 5:30."

"Yea, that should work."

"Fantastic! Thank you so much, Isamu-san. If you need to contact me before hand you may contact me at this number. I've also sent you an email. Until then!" she sputtered out.

"Thank you…" Sora said, just totally confused by the whole situation. He slipped his phone back into his left pocket and grabbed his food and trekked across the street back to his office so he could eat his lunch.

* * *

_September 5__th_

Kairi could hear the lady across from her talking, but she most definitely wasn't listening. But she made sure to say "mhm" and "uh-huh" at the right times. What she was really focusing on was the fact that 1) she was hungry (Emiko Haruna and her were only having coffee); and 2) all the work she had ahead of her when she got home. Kairi had left the office earlier than she usually did in order to make it to this consultation.

"Hikari-san? Are you listening?"

Kairi blinked out of her daze. "Hm," she hummed giving the woman her attention again.

"I asked if there were any questions you wanted to ask me before we wrap this meeting up?" the matchmaker asked.

Kairi shook her head no and gave a quick smile, "Oh, no. I think I'm good."

The matchmaker flashed her with a big smile, "Wonderful! I have everything I need from you. You should be hearing from me shortly about setting up your first date! It's going to be so exciting!"

"Well, thank you. I'll be looking forward to it," Kairi said politely. She got up from the table and bowed to Emiko Haruna.

She made her way to the door that led to the kitchen area. The reason Kairi had suggested this restaurant to meet up at was because it was the same restaurant her roommate Selphie worked at (that, and the fact that it was only two blocks from her apartment). She knocked on the door and poked her head in. "Selphie?" she called.

Selphie looked up from the vegetables she was chopping up and smiled; the other cooks and assembly crew didn't bother to look over at Kairi. "Oh hey, Kairi. How was your appointment?"

Kairi took a step into the kitchen and closed the door behind her. "Oh, it went well," she replied with a shrug.

Selphie eyebrow rose, "Something wrong?"

"Just hungry," Kairi pouted.

"Oh," Selphie rolled her eyes and smiled. She walked over to the fridge that was in the alley of the kitchen and grabbed a paper bag. She handed the bag to Kairi, "Here, made you this. Just heat it up for two minutes or so."

Kairi beamed and snatched the bag almost greedily, "Thanks! I'll see you when you get home!"

* * *

Sora was approaching the door to the restaurant, when it flew open. He had to back up a step to avoid getting hit by it. The women who opened the door didn't seem to care or even notice. Sora didn't get a good look at her either as she was walking in the opposite direction. He shrugged and walked in.

He approached the host. She was a pretty little thing, he mused. She was a petite, longhaired brunette, with big doe brown eyes. She smiled at the sight of him, "May I help you, sir?"

Sora gave her one of his toothy grins, "I'm actually here to meet up with a Emiko Haruna."

"Ah, yes. Follow me please, sir." The host said moving from behind the stand. She led him into the small dining room of the restaurant and motioned to the table that already sat by a bushy, redheaded woman.

When the woman noticed him she sprung up from her chair, her face taken over by her gloss rimmed smile. "You must be Isamu-san! It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"Yes, thank you," Sora said slowly. He looked her up and down. She was a tall woman, with big, long, wavy red hair (of the fake variety). She was well into her forties, as evidenced by the crow's feet and laugh lines on her face. She also seemed to have a love for the color maroon. A pink scarf accessorized her matching blazer and skirt set, along with a pair of cat-eye glasses that hung on a beaded chain around her neck. Her panty hose had a run on the left leg and she was wearing well-worn brown loafers. _She's something else, _he thought to himself with an inner chuckle.

"Please, please, sit down! We should get started," she said excitedly while motioning to the chair across from her. As Sora sat down she continued to jabber away, "You have such perfect timing my last appointment just left."

Emiko Haruna continued talking about the mission statement of Harmonia Matching Services as Sora ordered a glass of red wine for himself.

"I've been with this company matching people up just like you with their soul mates for twenty years now," she continued. "Waaaaaay back when this company used phone-ins and mail-ins for applications. I've helped over three hundred couples get together in my years of working here. And I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging when I say this, but I'm one of the best in this business and have a 98% success rate. So, I can assure you that you can have confidence in me finding you a match."

"Oh, wow," Sora said, actually impressed.

Without missing a beat, she continued, "So, how this works, after this consultation I'll be going through the candidates that are left from the computer program and find you a match from my own unique system. When I find you a suitable match I will contact you to set up your first date. Our services require that you go on three dates, as our studies have shown that it takes three dates to figure out if you really connect with someone. I'll help coordinate and escort on these three dates and will require feedback on each date from both of you. After which, if the dates are a success, I will do regular check ups every three months for the next year; unless you contact me before then. In any case, if were to not work out we would just restart the process all over again."

Sora nodded, taking a sip of his wine, "Sounds pretty good to me." It did sound like it was a pretty solid system to him.

"I should also state that if problems due arise, I am happy to help out in a counselor type of role," she added.

Sora's eyebrows rose in amusement, "Wow, you really do it all, don't you?"

Emiko Haruna giggled a bit, "I just feel that I should do my all to help people find their other half, that's all." He could tell that she wasn't even bullshitting him.

"Anyway," she transitioned as she was opening up the manila folder that Sora assumed held his information in. She slipped her cat-eye glasses over her nose and pulled out a paper. "Alright Isamu-san, what we're going to do next is do a little questionnaire, so I can get to get know you a little more and to see what exactly it is you're looking for. So, that brings me to my first question: what _are _you looking for? Why did you come to us?"

He pondered for a moment, why _did _he sign up for a matchmaking service? "I don't know," he muttered kind of quietly. "I guess I'm just kind of tired of this game, I've been playing it for almost ten years now. I kind of just want to settle down really. I'm approaching my late twenties, and yea, I'm still considered young, but I don't want to keep pushing this feeling aside until I'm not young, and it is too late."

She nodded as she was hastily taking notes; Sora noticed that the pen's ink was purple. "So, I take it that you're looking for a long-term relationship, one that could have the potential to start a family maybe?" she further questioned.

Sora considered this for a second; he always knew that he wanted a family _someday, _but this was the first time someone asked him seriously (besides his mother, of course). "Yea, I think so," he replied with a faint smile playing on his lips. He took another sip of wine.

"Excellent," that matchmaker said, still jotting down her notes. "Before I forget, because this has been becoming so common in recent years… Would you be opposed to being matched with someone who already has a child from a previous relationship?"

"No, not at all. I love children."

"Alright, I see here that you're an architect for Garaku, can you tell me a bit about that, please? How'd you get started with that?" Emiko asked.

He shifted in his chair a bit, "When my father forced me to move back to Twilight Town with him when I was seventeen, I became interested in construction in order to pass the time and not be around him. But not long after I became more interested in actually designing these building rather than just building them. Eventually, I became acquainted with Garaku-sensei and now I'm his apprentice."

"Wow, how impressive!" she exclaimed, genuinely impressed. "You're pretty young for the position you're in, correct?"

Sora smiled and replied, "Well, Garaku-sensei took me under his wing at a young age. I've been solidly under his tutelage since I was almost eighteen. He even allowed me to work with him even during my schooling."

"That is so great. He must really see something in you," Emiko said delighted. She started shifting through her papers again and transitioned, "Well Isamu-san, we still have a lot to cover."

"Let's do this then," Sora said getting comfortable in his chair.

* * *

_September 10th_

_All right, deodorant, check; teeth brushed, check... _Kairi applied her mascara as she went over her mental checklist. She slipped the wand back into its tube and examined herself in the mirror. She smoothed out her dark crimson hair, her hair was now just past her chin in a layered bob. Up until recently, she had worn her hair longer, to the collarbone. With the ever-changing industry that she was in she knew she had to break out of her safe zone and add a little edge to her look. She eyed the rest of her outfit, a coral blouse tucked into a navy and cream chevron printed pencil skirt, through the loopholes of the skirt was a thin, tawny brown belt. The outfit was completed with nude heels and a simple twisted gold bangle on her left wrist. Satisfied with her appearance, Kairi grabbed her purse and left her bedroom.

Kairi walked out to find Selphie and Tidus in the living room. She paused and watched the couple for a moment; this was the first time since Selphie went all the way over to their hometown of Destiny Islands to tell him that she was pregnant two weeks ago. Tidus still lived back on the island, as he was a fisherman along with his father.

In a sense, this pregnancy complicated matters for Tidus and Selphie; although they were engaged, they weren't going to get married until they could work out a living situation that worked for them both. Currently, they had been getting by with Tidus staying with them for four days every two weeks or so. Destiny Islands was forty-five minute to an hour west of Radiant Garden and the new train that would cut that time in half wouldn't be ready for another two years or so.

Tidus lifted his head from Selphie; he smiled at Kairi, "Good morning."

Kairi smiled back and replied, "Good morning, just get it?"

"Yea, I got in about forty-five minutes ago," he said tiredly. Kairi could tell by his face just how exhausted he really was.

Kairi looked over to Selphie, her face was still buried into Tidus' chest. She felt guilty for interrupting their moment and took her cue to leave, she headed for the door, "I'll see you two tonight when I get off."

She closed the door behind her and for a moment she just leaned up against it. Even Kairi couldn't deny the twinge of jealousy in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Hey Toji, what do you think of this?" asked Sora, motioning to the drawing pad in front of him.

Toji walked over from the corner that he was at, he peered over Sora's shoulder, "It looks good..."

"But?" Sora finished for him, knowing where Toji was going with his tone.

" But it looks like it's already been done before."

Sora grimaced, but he knew what his friend has said was true. He sighed and admitted, "Ugh, I know, you're right; I'm just having a hell of a time on this project."

"I think you're over thinking it," said Toji, patting Sora on the shoulder. He went down the steps of the platform that Sora's drawing board was on and leaned against Sora's desk. He continued, "I know it's a big project, but you're letting that get in the way of-I don't know, your creativity or some shit."

Sora swiveled his chair to face his friend, "Yea, maybe you're right. It's kind of stressing me out. This time Garaku-sensei isn't just having me help him. I'm in charge. This has got to be perfect. It's got to be a masterpiece."

Toji crossed his arms and smirked, "Well, just look at the bright side, at least you have another two-and-a-half months to perfect your design."

"Thank god!" Sora laughed.

Toji shifted, "I'm going to head back now, chill out a bit, okay?"

Sora rolled his eyes, "I'll try." He ran his hands through his spiky mane as he gave out a loud sigh.

Bzz, bzz, bzz…

His phone was going off on his desk across the office. He grabbed the phone and looked at it.

EMIKO HARUNA CALLING

Sora slid the answer bar, "Hello?"

"Hello Isamu-san! Are you busy?" asked the energetic voice on the other line.

Sora leaned up against his desk, "Nope, not at all. What's up?"

"I have good news for you! I've found you a match!" Sora had to almost move the phone away from his ear because she was so excited.

"Wow, already?" Sora asked in almost disbelief.

"Mhm! I've already talked to her today, she gave me the time and place that would work for her; so I wanted to verify with you so things can get set into motion. I had suggested to her about having the first date be set at a restaurant. I feel that restaurants are the perfect opportunity for two people to get acquainted with one another. I usually recommend nothing too fancy, as I want both parties to be relaxed," Emiko explained.

"Uh-huh," Sora hummed listening.

"So, your match said that this Friday evening at seven o'clock would work well for her. And luckily, you know where the place is, because she wants to meet up at Midori. Would that work for you, Isamu-san?"

Without even thinking, he said, "Yea, that sounds great. I'll be there." Sora reached for a pen and whatever piece of paper he could find and jotted down, "Midori 7pm Fri."

"Perrrfect," she almost purred. "I will meet you both there that night for introductions. I'm so excited for you!"

"Yea, me too."

"See you at Friday at seven!"

_Click_

It wasn't until Sora put his phone down that he realized he hadn't even thought to ask Emiko Haruna what the name of the girl was.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

Well, there was the second part of the revamp double feature! I hope you've enjoyed it. So far this is so different from my original and definitely so much better. I know that this chapter in particular wasn't too exciting, but it was necessary. One thing the original lacked was how to enforce these two to go on their dates, so that is why I created the character of Emiko to help with that. I envision her looking like a lot like Haruna Sakurada from Sailor Moon (also where she gets her namesake from), but with the personality of Rikku from FFX.

As far as the Japanese suffixes go, I plan on only using them when necessary. I still want to use Japanese culture as an influence in my story in order to stay somewhat authentic. –san is usually used as an in general Mr./Mrs./Ms. –sensei is used for a teacher type of figure.

Anyway, I will hopefully get chapter three up shortly. I plan on starting on it right away.

**Character profiles**

**Name: **Emiko Haruna

**DOB: **May 1st

**Hometown: **Radiant Garden

**Age:** 43

**Occupation: **matchmaker for Harmonia Matching Services

**Current Residence: **Radiant Garden

* * *

**Name: **Tidus Takumi

**DOB: **July 3rd

**Age: **26

**Hometown: **Destiny Islands

**Occupation: **fisherman with his father's company

**Current residence: **Destiny Islands

Love,

Tabitha


End file.
